Container



1938. A. J. MElE 2,125,354

CONTAINER Filed June 15, 1955.

5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ALBERT JOHN MEIER F wmliw A. J. M EIERCONTAINER 7 Filed June 15, 19255 I 3 Sheets- Sheet 2 INVENTOR ALBERTJOHN HEIE' R BY i ATTOQK EY 938. A. J. ME|EI 2,125,354

CONTAINER Filed June 15, 1955 s Sheet-Sheet s ALBERT JOHN MEI ERINVENTOR.

WWW

ATTORNEY.

, 55 of said container.

Patented Aug. 2, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTAINER Albert JohnMeier, Glendale, Mo.

Application June 15,

2 Claims.

My invention relates to novel apparatus for and methods of operating aclosure and more particularly relates to novel containers for coins,keys, jewelry, paper, badges, cosmetics, and the like.

Heretofore, attempts .have been made to develop a container having asimple automatic and effective closure. To this end, the usual snapfastener closures for bags and the like have been replaced by zippersand tension operating members. These, however, are still involved andex,- pensive and in the case of the zippers, are not automatic.

Accordingly, an object of my invention is to provide a novel closurefor-containers.

A further object of my inventionis to provide a container having a novelautomatic closure.

A still furtherobject of my invention is to provide automatic deflectingmeans in a container for preventing accidental spilling of the contents.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide a container havingfreely mounted therein an automatic closure device.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a simple and durablecontainer which can be constructed at low cost.

There are other objects of my invention, which together with theforegoing, will appear in the detailed description which is to follow inconnection with the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view'of one embodiment of my invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the container shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a planview of the opened container shown in Figure 1,showing the closure mechanism.

Figure 4 is a side view of the container opened as in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a cross sectionthrough 5-5 in Fig ure 1. v ,Figure 6 is a.top'plan view with a portion 0 the top cut away to show the internalconstruction of my container.

' Figure 7 is a detail of the closure mechanism. Figure 8 is a rear planview of the top portion of my container;

Figure 9 is a side elevation of Figure 8. Figure 10 shows my containeras in use. Figure 11 is a plan view of a container with a modifiedclosure mechanism.

Figure 12 is a plan view of said container compressed to open positionand showing interior.

Figure 13 is a side view of the spring mechanism 1935, Serial No. 26,763A (Cl. 150-10) Figure 14 is a plan view of a springmechanism with springejecting means.

' Figure 15 is a cross-sectional view of a container with said mechanismin place.

Referring now more specifically to Figures 1 and 2, my containercomprises two similar portions of material 2 and 3, which are secured toeach other as by sewing along the periphery 4. Any suitable materialpreferably one having flexibility, such as leather or fabric may beused.

The portion 2 may be pan-shaped as in Figure'2, or may, if preferred, bea contiuous piece of material.

Portion 3 which constitutes the closure is provided with a slit 1 whichextends longitudinally and ending a sufiicient distance from theperiphery to leave suificient leather to form a secure pocket.

Along the entire length of the two edges formed by the slit and on theunder surface of portion 3, reinforcing. members 8- and 9, Figure 3, ofany suitable material such as a leather strip are secured in any wellknown manner as by gluing.

After the container has been assembled to form the constructiondescribed above, two tension members such as the spring wires ii and i2,Figure 7, are inserted within the compartment formed by the two portionsof material, 2 and 3.

Members I I and i2 are of like construction with one end thereof curvedas at l3 to form a part of an arc and the opposite end indented to forma hook I, the under surface of which is shaped to conform, aswill'appear hereinafter, with the inner surface of the arc l3.

Members ii and i2 are inverted with respect to each other as shown inFigure 7, so that the arced-end l3 of member Ii is adjacent to thehooked end of member i2 and the arc end i3 of member I! is adjacent tothe hook end of member Ii, thus forming a ball and socket arrangement.These two members I I and i2, in this position, are inserted through theopening at I into the compartment of the container and assume the 2position shown in Figure 6.

' The length of members If and i2 is slightly greater than the insidelongitudinal distance between the secured ends of the parts 2 and 3 sothat normally both members II and I! are partially compressed and underspring tension, when in position as shown in Figure 6. The springmembers are thus locked in position although readily removable.

As will now be clear, the are at i3 is shaped to conform with the areformed by the securing edge of the two pieces of material and thesurface I of hook I4 forms a substantially snug fit along the innersurface of arc I3, the portion 2 stretching itself panlike around thespring as shown in Figure 2. 4

Spring members Ii and I2 thus normally tend to stretch portions 2 and 3longitudinally, thereby automatically holding the slot I securelyclosed, as shown in Figure 1. I The rear piece 2 may be perforated as atI6 and I1 through which a link shaped member I8 made of are; desiredmaterial such.as leather is threaded and joined as by a knot shown atDevices such as keys, 2|, may depend from link I8 as shown in Figure 10.

The operation of thecontainer should now be obvious. Normally, when itis desired to wi draw an article from the container, the container isgripped atpoints adjacent the ends of springs I I and I2 as shown inFigures 3 and 4 and compressed against the action of the springs. SlitII opens and as the pressure in the springs continues, the openingpasses from an elliptical stage to one in which the opening issubstantially a circle as shown in Figure 3, thus providing an openingfor inserting or withdrawing articles such as key H. In this position,members 8 and 9 form a reinforcing perimeter to open the slit and keepit substantially circular. To close the container, the link I8 isgrasped by the fingers of the user at I9 and pulled until devices suchas key 2| are entirely within the enclosing chamber. when now the endsof the container are released, spring members II and !2 willautomatically move the ends of the container to their maximumlongitudinal position, thus automatically and securely closing the slotI.

As will now be obvious in operating my container, it is not necessary toprovide complicated securing means for thetspring members It and I2. Infact, members II and I2 can be mounted in place quickly and simply. Asshown, the ends of these members form a ball and socket joint, or, .ifpreferred, a pin joint may be provided. As the container is opened andciosed, there is substantially no sliding friction between members IIand I2 and the leather, substantially all of the friction occurringbetween the members Hand I2.

An automatic method for ejecting me keys from within the container canbe accomplished by extending the free end I5 of the spring II shown inFigures 14 and 15 inwardly td a point midwaythe length of the spring asat I5". By twisting this spring at I 5", a tension can be created inthis extension transverse to that in the main body of the spring. Byperforating this extension for inserting a key ring, means will beprovided forejecting the key ring and keys from the center of thecontainer when the container is open. In closing, the container iscompressed ts "hitherto explained, the spring extension depressed withthe forefinger, and the container allowed to close on the extension keysand ke ring.

- In Figure 8 a rear view of the front portion 3 is shown. Attachedlongitudinally thereto a reenforcing strip 20 is'placed, which may besewed or glued' thereon. Thereafter, a longitudinal slit 22 divides thereinforcing strip into two sections 23 and 24.

In Figure 9 the reinforcing strip 20 is shown attached to the frontportion 3. The two extreme ends of the reinforcing strip 20 are beveliedso that the front and rear portions 3 and 2 may be sewed together aroundthe periphery without producing obstructions at each end.

The reinforcing strip 20 performs a triple function. It acts to keep theslit I closed when the pressure has been released at its ends. It servesto produce a uniformly round opening when the ends are' compressed. Whenthe container is closed, the thickness of the reinforcing strip beingadjacent the slit 3 serves to deflect the contents away from theopening.

As a key container, the contents can be withdrawn by compressing the twoextreme ends with one hand, inverting the same thereby causing the keysto be expelled. In ciosing, knot I9 is pulled away from the container,causing the keys to be withdrawn therein. as previously explained.

In Figure 11 a circular container is shown with the front 3longitudinally slit as at I, and-' eontaining a single closure spring 25with inturned ends 26 to avoid sticking into the leather of thecontainer, and providing a minimum of friction. The spring 25 isinserted into the slot and parallel to it, with the inturned endstowards the opening so that under flexture, as indicated by the dottedlines in Figure 13, the center of the springwill move away from the slitI. This is a simplification of the closure mechanism and lowers themanufacturing cost of the container.

It is obvious that new uses may cause slight changes in my invention.Accordingly, I do not wish to be limited to the exact construction asshown, but claim broadly the right to use all equivalentinstrumenta'iities coming within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A container comprising a casing, a closure for said casing, a pair offiat wire springs comprising in duplicate spring members, each having arounded end to form a hook on its outside surface and a curved end toform a socket on its inside surface, said members in juxtaposition topermit the socket of one to engage the hook of the other for providing asubstantially frictionless bearing to enable relative movement of saidtensioned members.

2. A container comprising a casing having a front and back wall, aclosure for said front wail,

